Who I Am
by BlackxSouledxAlice
Summary: Re-make on As I Have Lived. Bella there, not following books though  Cullens  meets a new clan, and things happen. People are not who they seem, love and life is complicated, and friendship can be the very thing that can save someone's eternal tourment.
1. Prologue

Prologue: Introduction

Sitting in the small, secluded area of a crowded, loud, noisy high school cafeteria, 5 teenagers were having a hushed conversation, five different plates of untouched food in front of them. It would just be thrown away anyways, since none of the people at that table ate. One of the teens reached out and took an apple from his tray, tossing it from hand to hand, like a baseball. His long, pale fingers deftly caught the apple, his butterscotch eyes trained on his companions.

"They're like us, I swear. One of them sits next to me in English and I saw his eyes. Can we at least talk to them?" The big, brawny one asked, unable to keep a childlike whine to his voice as he lounged out on the cafeteria. He had one arm possesively wrapped around the gorgeous blond girl leaning against his side as he kept glancing around the cafeteria expectantly, almost eagerly.

"Carlisle wanted to talk to them anyway, so I guess it'd be okay. We should invite them to sit with us." The soft brunette said, her eyes flashing from the brawny male to the one with the apple, who smiled sweetly at her, tossing his messy bronze hair out of his face and put down the piece of fruit to gently take her hand, his thumb running smooth circles on the back of it in a slow, soothing motion.

"Great idea, love, if they come in here at all. We don't know their...habits yet" The bronze haired boy said, looking up towards the cafeteria door. 4 other people walked in, looking slightly awkward, and almost a bit afraid. They made their way into the lunchline, the smallest of them leading the way boldly. They did not look at anything other than straight ahead of them, and they did not speak, but you could tell some sort of silent communication was passing between the four of them as they moved through the crawling line.

A few of them looked similar, twins almost, but all (including the 5 at the table) had some form of pale skin, from fresh fallen snow to almost a gey-white pallor, and any range of golden brown or dark eyes, almost to black. Each one was also in some way incredibly attractive, and this still included the 5 at the table. Other students whispered furiously, spreading gossip about the beautiful new students, and their resemblance to the ones sitting at the table, but none if it seemed to bother either group as they went about their important discussions, or lack-there-of in the case of the quartet.

"Well, I guess I'll go get them." The brunette said then, when no one made a move to get up and greet the small band of newcomers. She slid her hand out of the Adonis-like bronze haired boy and rose to her feet, hurrying across the cafeteria to meet the strange new group.


	2. Important Authors Note

A/N: Hello. Well, this story is a re-make of an old, terribly written one I did about 2 years ago. I never finished that story and, upon re-reading it here, I realized that I had to do the smart thing and...start over, sort of. If you look up As I Have Lived, you will notice that I made many, many mistakes, including the posting of the wrong chapter, a duplicate of the one before it, and not fixing it because I never noticed, and a lot of spelling errors. I am not only revising my mistakes, but changing a lot of things as well. If you have read the original story, I hope this new one is on the same standards, or better. And as for those who have not yet read this one, I hope you will enjoy it. Thank you for taking the time to read my explination, and everything and have a wonderful day.

~ C


	3. Newcomers

Chapter One: Newcomers

APOV (Athalie)

"Um...hi. I was wondering if you'd like to come join us." A small brunette vampire stood in front of me and my friends, looking at us curiously as she proposed her question. She looked nervous, afraid of us almost, and I almost laughed. She had friends, that group of 4 at the corner table. We were no threat, no threat at all.

Everyone turned to glance at Susan, the loudest, most outgoing of us all, and our voted spokesvamp for the group. She stared back at us, looked at the vampire in front of us, then at the group in the corner. I could hear the talk of the humans, wondering what we would do. They were curious as to why we looked so much like their classmates that kept to themselves, coming up with vicious rumors to hide their lack of knowledge. Let them talk. It didn't bother us one bit.

After what felt like an eternity Susan nodded, and we followed the brunette through the tangled mass of students and lunch tables to the small secluded corner, where 5 other vampires were seated comfortably, making small talk with one another that ceased as soon as we approached. We all sat down, in a small cluster, not sure what to do. There was a moment of awkward silence, and I turned my gaze to my hands clasped in my lap, letting the others do the talking.

"I'm Susan, and this is my merry band of freaks. Don't be shy guys, introduce yourselves." Susan said with a chuckle, sticking out her tongue at the three of us. Raven lifted his hand and gently flicked her on the nose before tucking a piece of her reddish-auburn hair out of her eyes. She smiled up at him and I could almost feel the adoration and love they had for each other that continued to last, and grow, through the ages.

"Last time I checked you were the only freak around here." Celeste teased back, immediately slipping into the more comfortable form of communication over the awkward silence. She scrunched up her face and made a dramatic eye-roll at her sister-in-law, once again showing her flair for the "dramatic arts". "I'm Celeste Gilbert, Raven's biological younger sister." She said, playing with a strand of her hair, the same color, if not a bit lighter, as Raven's blonde locks.

"And I'm Raven Gilbert, Sue's boyfriend, for school purposes." Rave finished, giving his mate a loving look from under his own mop of messy blonde hair. A small smile graced my lips before I shot a quick glance at the table across from me, wondering if anyone would notice me beside my family.

"Hey. I'm Emmett Cullen, and this is _my_ little beauty Rosalie." One of their vampires said, rather loudly, taking over the introductions. He looked to be a football jock, if he were human, with his broad shoulders and muscled body. His hair was short but curly, and he had one arm draped protectively around a gorgeous, slim blonde's waist.

"This is Edward Cullen, and I am Isabella Masen. Call me Bella though." The brunette who led us here spoke now, clutching the hand of the bronze haired boy next to her, who I assumed was Edward, who gave us an easy smile in welcome.

"I'm Jasper Whitlock, nice to meet you all." A tall, lean blond with a southern accent ended, shooting my two sisters a wide, easygoing grin. I glanced at him for a second, but looked down at my hands quickly. He was attractive, for human standards definitely, but tiny, flawed indentions laced up his bare arms where his button-up shirt sleeves were rolled back, as was his neck. They were vampire scars, made by another vamp's venom. That realization proverbially chilled my blood. Who was this battle-scarred southerner?

"That's Athalie Sterling, by the way. She doesn't talk much." Rave said, smiling reassuringly at me even as 5 pairs of curious vampire eyes turned to examine me. I attempted to smile back before looking back at my hands, which now started to tremble slightly. I hated when attention was drawn to me, and Raven had done it on purpose. Bastard.

"Hello Amber." Jasper murmured in his molasses-slow way, reaching his hand across the table. I stared at it for a second, as if I had never seen the gesture before in my extended life, before taking it in mine, looking down at the empty table between us instead of into his obsidian eyes. Jasper shook it twice, then let go, seeming to understand my hatred of being touched.

"We might want to get to class; we're going to be late." Rosalie's voice jarred me out of my thoughts of her odd brother, and I looked up suddenly, glancing around the table. "Who has what classes?"

"Art." Susan said happily.

"Woodshop." Rave said.

"Creative Writing." Celeste murmured, shooting Susan a dagger-eye look. I smiled to myself, thinking how antagonistic those two could seem towards each other. Sue had scored the last open spot in art, and only Celeste could make that one tiny thing into something grudge-worthy.

"Psychology." I murmured when all eyes were on me expectantly. Without vampire hearing I doubt anyone would have heard me, except maybe Rave. He always knew how to take care of me, as if _I_ were his younger sister, _instead_ of Celeste, who could take care of herself.

"Susan go with Rosalie, she has that period as well. Raven, the woodshop class is right next to the gym, room 109." Edward said, taking control from Rosalie. "The English room you want, Celeste, is right next to the Art room, so you can go with the girls. And Jasper will escort you to class, Athalie." He finished before everyone rose to dump their trays and head off to class. Celeste pressed her lips to my cheek in parting and Susan tugged my hair playfully, then both they and Raven were gone, leaving me alone with the Southerner.

"Come on, we have psychology together." Jasper said, smiling kindly at me as he got to his feet, picking up both of our trays. I kept my gaze down and also rose, waiting at the table until he returned. He gave me another quick, easygoing smile, and I let him lead me out of the deserted cafeteria.

"Why are you in that class?" I asked, forcing myself to make small talk as soon as we reached the hallway. I didn't want him to think of me as rude, especially when he was being awfully nice to me, carrying my books like the Southern gentleman he seemed to be as he very literally escorted me to fourth period Psychology.

"I'm trying to understand why some people react the way they do. It'll help me with my power." He answered, leading me into an almost empty classroom. Apparently very few people wanted to take psychology these days, and who could blame them with "easy A" electives like art and drama? No one wanted to work for grades in this day and age.

"What's your power?" I questioned next, suddenly very, very interested. Other vampire's powers engrossed me to no end, and from what I read from these new vampires, most of them had some talent or other.

"I'm an Empath. Do you have…special skills?" Jasper replied. I opened my mouth to answer him, suddenly very eager to share with the scary warrior-vamp, but before I could the warning bell rang and the teacher walked in. The man was stern, and his first order was to open our books and turn to page 131, ending any possible chances for Jasper and I to finish our conversation.

EPOV (Edward)

A couple weeks went on with these new vampires staying with us, and even though we weren't as inconspicuous as before, none of us wanted the new clan to leave. With 9 vampires at this school, including myself, it was nearly impossible for people NOT to notice us, but we managed just fine, changing our hunting habits to further away with the rise in the vegan vampire population.

"Edward, what are you thinking?" Bella asked at the end of one day. We were standing outside, by my Volvo and Rose's M3, waiting for the others to arrive. The Sloane clan never drove, but preferred to run to wherever they were staying at, saying it kept them "healthy". It was more dangerous that way, but they understood our need for an unobtrusive life, and followed it.

"Jasper has been alone since Alice…and he seems so lonely. Maybe…maybe Athalie could cheer him up a bit." I said thoughtfully. Those two had seemed to be gravitating towards each other naturally, and I could read from my brother's thoughts that he had some fondness for the shy vampire already.

"You want to force them together?" My love questioned.

"As much as possible. It'll be good for him." I responded, kissing her on the forehead chastely.

"What'll be good for who? What are you guys talking about?" Jasper asked, choosing that particular moment to walk over to us. I knew he had heard most of the conversation, but perhaps he hadn't heard the part where we were talking about him.

"Oh, nothing." I said, opening Bella's door before walking over to the driver's side of my old Volvo, sliding in quietly. _It's about time I got a new one_, I thought in regret.

_Man, what's with them lately? First they ditch me all the time and now this? Well, at least they're not acting like bodyguards again. And yes, Edward I know you're listening. Drive. _Jasper's thoughts read loud and clear, and I snickered as I pulled out of the student parking lot, shooting my brother A Look. He was clueless. How thick could his skull be?

A/N: This is the first chapter….obviously. If you've read my other story first, you'll notice a lot of changes. First of all, I made the paragraphs bigger, added more detail. Second, there's less mistakes. Also, I promise not to add the wrong chapter. Oh. And I'm making the plot longer, so it doesn't seem like Jasper just falls for Athalie/Amber like its "love at first sight". She's also a bit more wary of our battle-scarred boy. And I'm also going to add chapters that weren't in the first one. So…yeah. Thanks for reading. Please, review! I love feedback. ^_^ ~ C


	4. The Mansion

Chapter Two: The Mansion

APOV (Athalie)

"Hey, they're here!" Emmett yelled. I flinched and Rave laid a comforting hand on my shoulder, smiling down at me even as he bumped knuckles with the hulking vampire in front of us.

"Hey Emmett!" He said as the other 'teenagers' drifted out of the huge, white mansion where the Cullens lived, (a/n: No, they're not in Forks.), smiling broadly.

"Hi Rosalie, Bella." Susan and Celeste said simultaneously, then shot dagger eyes at each other playfully. The two Cullen girls rushed to my sisters and were gone in a flash, laughing all the way.

"Hey guys, you wanna play Zombie Bloodshed 5?" (A/n: I made up the game, but doesn't is sound fun?) Emmett asked eagerly, looking like an excited kid on Christmas. "I just got it, and Edward's inside playing. You'll love it dude!" I stifled a laugh. Emmett sounded just like the teenager he was pretending to be.

"You'll be okay? I'm going to go play." Rave asked, tilting his head off to one side as he looked down at me. I knew he was hated to leave me out here with Jasper, having come to the same conclusion I had about the warrior-vamp: he was dangerous. I nodded and gave him a shove towards the house, and the precious Zombie Bloodshed 5.

As soon as he was actually gone, the door shut tight behind him, I realized that I was truly alone. On the front porch. With _Jasper_. The warrior-vamp. The Empath warrior-vamp. The silence thickened as I thought what to do. I could go inside, join the boys? Or I could track down my sisters and the Cullen girls and gossip and put on fashion shows or make-up? I shuddered at the last thought. I'd rather take my chances with Warrior-vamp.

"Hey." Jasper finally said, breaking the silence. He leaned against Edward's Volvo, probably trying to look cool. It made me smile thought just a little bit. It wasn't that funny.

"Where's Edward? And where did the other girls go?" I asked, again trying to oblige myself to make small talk. It wasn't as hard as before, I noticed.

"Edward's killing zombies and the girls are giving themselves makeovers, or at least that was what Rose was planning on doing earlier." He said. I shuddered, remembering all to clearly the times my sisters had made me play Athalie Barbie.

"Not a favorite past-time?" He asked me sarcastically, chuckling. I shook my head and made a face, scrunching up my nose in dislike.

"I don't care how great I look afterwards; it's not even remotely fun for me. You're lucky you've never had to be held down while your 'sisters' use an eyelash curler on you." I said, making air quotes on sisters. I grimaced, trying to push back the unpleasant memories of when Celeste and Susan made me have "girl time" with them.

"Hey, you never got to answer my question in Psychology. Do you have a power?" He suddenly questioned, rapidly changing subject. I looked at him questioningly and he refused to meet my gaze, but I decided to throw the big warrior-vamp a bone and simply nodded. I turned my back on him, smiling slyly to myself.

"Here, let me show you." I whispered, bringing my fingers to my lips. I blew gently on the fingertips, right against my nails and turned back around, a tiny flame dancing on my fingertips merrily.

"Wow that's…incredible!" He exclaimed, even as he took a step back. Fire destroyed vampires. I extinguished the fire by blowing again and smiled shyly, bowing my head. "How much can you make?"

"Well, I'm not entirely sure. I've never tested my boundaries that much." I murmured, putting my fingers in my mouth. The fire didn't burn me, but a dull ache usually came soon after I had put the fire out, sometimes consuming my whole hand in the slight pain.

"Does it hurt?" He asked, walking up to me. He pulled my fingers from my mouth and inspected them, a small frown on his face. A trace amount of soot lingered on my fingertips, as if there had been something there to sustain the fire.

"No, but my hand usually is sore afterwards. Maybe because fire is supposed to burn vampires, but it doesn't burn me. Not even normal fire. I've gotten used to it." I muttered. I wasn't used to a complete stranger caring about me like this, and it worried me.

"Well I'm sorry it has to hurt at all." He said, raising my hand up to his mouth. He kissed my fingers gently before releasing my hand. I stepped back immediately, looking away at him, my expression unreadable.

"You're afraid of me. Why?" Jasper took a step closer and I stepped back in compensation. I didn't like him to close to me, it made me feel nervous. The warrior-vampire sighed, taking a step back in defeat.

"I…I barely know you. We're not even friends." I stated tensely. He chuckled humorlessly.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He said, his voice just a low murmur. It was like he was trying to coax a wild animal. "We could be, you know." He tried again when he realized he was getting nowhere with me, still speaking softly.

I nodded, and he stepped forward again. This time I didn't move.

"Friends. And only friends. Promise?" I asked, a last attempt to regain control over the situation. He wouldn't stop hounding me, I saw it in the set of his jaw, the way he furrowed his eyebrows, and I had to find a way to make him leave me be. I wasn't used to being harassed like this, especially from a male. Double from a male Empath vampire.

"Fine." He muttered again, as if the situation didn't work well for him. I nodded again, not giving him another chance to undermine my self-control, and walked toward the house, turning my back on him.


End file.
